Tasmania - Lake St. Claire

After 5 great days up at Cradle Mountain we drove around to the south side of the National Park on the 17th. The weather decided to turn cold & a little rainy, but it wasn't bad enough to keep us indoors - the cool temperatures actually made for more comfortable hiking.

As you can see from the photos the hikes continue to be spectacular - lots of meandering paths through the Eucalyptus forests and button grass moors. They really are bush tracks too, for the most part, although many stretches are on elevated boardwalks to keep your feet dry during the worst of the wet conditions. Saw this little Pademelon on a walk thru Mt. Field National Park where we spent a couple of days - just a one hour drive from our cabin in Bronte Park near Lake St. Claire.

This is Lady Barron Falls at the end of a particularly pretty hike in Mt. Field NP

Low clouds behind me a a little brisk this day from the wind, but no rain thank goodness. There's a lake just to the right of the photo that has Platypus in it. Didn't see any when we stopped for lunch though.

There's a story connected with the photo above. Seems that the warm days of Autumn (remember that seasons here are reversed) are when male Tiger Snakes go looking for females with the object of making baby Tiger Snakes for the following Spring. Thing is: Tiger Snakes are among the most poisonous in the world and are especially active this time of year. Notice that the sign doesn't say that they'll "strike" if cornered or accidentally stepped on, but rather that they'll "attack". That's the thing about these little coils of malice: if you make one mad he'll actually come after you, and this time of year about all it takes to aggravate one is a harsh look. Combine that with the fact that they like to sun themselves in open areas (ie, the trail) and that after a shower they look exactly like tree roots and you have the makings of an especially paranoid walk thru the forest. Fortunately the cold weather we were having kept them in their little burroughs and the paths were clear. Like most Aussie snakes they feed on small marsupials about the size of house mice, lizards, etc., yet for some reason have evolved to carry enough venom to drop a horse (or a hiker). No one seems to know why the snakes here are so extravagantly venomous, but it's sobering to know that of the 20 deadliest snakes on earth all but one are present in Australia - makes you want to hike on tiptoe sometimes.

The lady who runs the little general store in Bronte Park collects and cares for orphan wildlife - those that are pulled from a dead mother's pouch if one is hit by a passing car. She had a couple of Wombat joeys with her in the store one day and let Rita cuddle the older of the two...about 8 months old as I recall. The smaller baby below is only about 3 months old. Says she feeds them baby formula until they're about two years old, then just turns them loose behind her ranch in the foothills when they're ready to go it on their own.

Just finishing up our two weeks here in the Central Highlands and will be heading for Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula today - by way of Hobart, the capital of the State of Tasmania, and the place I first visited 35 years ago when I was on the Enterprise. The ship pulled in here for a one week port call and everyone immediately fell in love with the place and the people. It was particularly heartwarming to see the welcome our young sailors received from the locals. This was 1976 - just after the Vietnam War ended - and so wasn't an especially great time to be in the service. The hospitality shown to our young guys (average age on the flight deck was 19) was truly memorable. It was common for young guys in uniform (the young enlisteds didn't have civilian clothes) to be literally snatched off the street by local families who took them home for dinner and a family home evening. I hooked up with several guys from my squadron and rented a car - intent to put the ship in our rear-view mirror as quickly as possible for a few days R&R. We drove up to Lake St. Claire...same place Rita & I just left. On the way we stopped for gas (petrol) in the little town of New Norfolk. Turned out that it was the day of a major Ausie sporting event - the Melbourne Cup horse race - and we pulled up to the pump about 5 minutes before the race started. The local bloke who came out to meet us explained the situation and invited us into his home next door to watch the race with him and his wife - even served us all a cup of tea - so our quick pit-stop for gas in rural Tasmania turned into an hour delay while we watched the race with a nice local couple. Lots of stories like that.

They really are passionate about sports here, and that calls to mind a story that illustrates the point: seems that a man was visiting Melbourne on the day of the "Grand Final" - their version of the Super Bowl, when the two top clubs in Aussie rules football meet for the championship. Seats are sold out years in advance, but this guy managed to get one somehow and headed out to the stadium for the game. Noticing that the seat next to him was empty as the game was about to begin he inquiredf of the man seated next to him if he knew why the seat between them was empty. "oh yes" responded the man, "It's my wife's you see. We've had these seats for years, and in fact never missed a Final in over 40 years of marriage. She died recently, unfortunately". "Oh, I'm very sorry" responded the man, "but why didn't you offer the seat to a friend or relative?" "Oh, I tried" replied the old man, "but they're all at the funeral".

Next stop Port Arthur.

Tasmania - Cradle Mountain

Rita at Dove Lake with Cradle Mountain beyond


Our first two weeks here in Tasmania have been terrific, but I'd forgotten how really remote this area is - no internet connectivity except for a few dial-up places with speeds so slow that it took 20 minutes just to clear emails the first time I tried. Am sitting in an internet cafe in Hobart that actually has high speed broadband...and feeling like a returned astronaut who's been out of communication with NASA for a year or two.

Been doing some great hikes around Cradle Mountain - Lake St. Claire National Park, which is a world heritage area that takes up most of central Tasmania. Here are the photos:

Spectacular Scenery around every turn in the trail

The place we stayed was surrounded by native bush...and native critters. These Pademelons are shown from our back porch, and the Currawong below was quite a moocher in the morning - showed up as soon as the lights came on in the cabin - waiting to be fed.

The area is dotted with buttongrass moors, which are home to native Wombats. This hillside above looked so much like Hobbiton that we had to take a photo. Below is a look at one of the not-so-little guys out and about - they can get to almosr 100 lbs.

Almost had to kick this little Wallaby in the butt to get him to move off the trail so we could pass one morning, so intent was he on nibbling on a bit of mushroom. Lots of these little guys all over the place.

Rita cuddling with one of the Wombats during a stop at the Trowanna Animal Park in Moss Creek. They collect orphaned animals, raise them to adult-hood, then release them once they can manage on their own. They mainly collect the babies from the pouches of dead mothers who have become road kill - a real problem here at dusk and in the early AM apparently.

On the Dove Lake Walk

A Tasmanian Devil

This Echidna just walked out of the forest one afternoon as I waited for Rita to return to the car.

My time has about expired so I need to hit "Publish" just to get this out. Will try to fill in later with better commentary. Now it's off to the other side of the Park - Lake St. Claire.

Sydney

Everyone takes a photo of the Opera House...This is ours


Arrived here the morning of March 10 after the long overnight flight from LAX. Afraid United was a disappointment after all those years flying on SingAir, but at least the seats were lie-flat so we could get some sleep.

Only stayed here a couple of nights - mainly to get a little acclimated to the time
change before we head out for Tasmania on Wednesday the 12th. The weather was glorious so we jumped on one of the Harbor Ferries and spent the day walking around Rose Bay, Watson's Bay, and the South Head area near the entrance to the harbor. There's a famous seafood restaurant out there (Doyle's) and the area is just very pretty to walk around. There's even Sydney Harbor National Park that provides a bit of bush walking within the city limits. Walked our legs off before stopping for lunch and catching the ferry back to Circular Quay. Here are some photos:


One of the pretty views looking back up the harbor from Rose Bay. You can see the Sydney Harbor Bridge & the Opera House off in the distance.

A photo op along the trail

And another - really a pretty part of a very pretty city

The end of our walk was this nice little bay on the harbor side of South Head. The monument marks the spot where Capt Arthur Philip of the First Fleet stepped ashore after the 8 month voyage from England back in 1788, and thus founded the colony that became Australia. They had originally pulled into Botany Bay, just south of Sydney Harbor (where the Int'l Airport is today), based upon a recommendation by Capt Cook in 1770 that it be the place to base a colony, but found it too marshy and lacking a reliable water supply. So, they went exploring
for a better place and thus sailed into one of the great harbors of the world - and one that Cook never saw.

We really love Sydney. It's long been our favorite city on earth - thanks mainly to the gorgeous harbor that touches every part of it. We'll be back here at the end of the trip in June, but now it's time to fly to Launceston, pick up the rental car, and head into the Tasmanian bush.

On Our Way

Been a while since we updated this so I thought I'd post some photos from Grandma Arens' birthday back in January - 93 years old and still going strong.


Taken after church. She was thrilled that the priest mentioned the fact that it was her birthday during his remarks at the Mass


Celebrating with a cake later that day


We're off this morning for Los Angeles, then catch the flight to Sydney tomorrow night from LAX. Looking forward to 3 months in one of our favorite countries. First stop will be Sydney for a couple of days - to get a acclimated to the 5 hour time change mostly, then we'll be flying to Tasmania for the first month. Will be spending a couple of weeks in Cradle Mountain National Park - a world heritage area we've visited (briefly) before. Looking forward to lots of great hikes amongst the various critters. Will try to keep this updated as we go.